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Not to be flippant, but what is there to talk about? It seems lately that everybody and his uncle is shooting either an Angel or Cocker on the pro circuit, and since this IS a Mag forum, it just never comes up.

hey M-a-s- thats not all true man we got some pro paintball players out here! Just not many of them. I myself am a amatuer player, i play at tourneys, but i dont see many pros around here... Maybe they just haven't found AO yet?

AGD- didn't u give e-mags to jacksonville warriors? cuz in magazines it was saying congrats to jacksonville warriers all with e-mags.... Are they even on the Forums?

give me a few years, I will be a household name, the world will sing my praises and bow down before my greatness. And I'll tell everyone that I started here. all I need to do now is enter my first tourney.

well i'm still playing rookie div, but i'll be moving on up soon, til one day..

personally i'm not in a hurry to make it to the pros.. don't get me wrong, i want to play with the best out there.. but from what i've seen with some pro teams out there, that just gives the pros a negative vibe in my mind.

They don't mean anything to me. They do seem to mean a lot to the younger crowd. I know the kids think tourney is the "thing'" they all dream and should do so. And therefore it sells stuff. I seem to think there was some talk about this before but you made your intentions clear about not getting too heavly involved directly? Am I right? Maybe that has dampened the talk here about it? Anyway... I know my kid dreams about this kind of stuff. i just try to survive and like your equipment and customer service. I'm too practical I to be a good advisor on this subject I guess. I do notice that a lot of older guys like Mags. Maybe that is a good thing? Not as big a market but a steady one...

To be honest I do not follow "Pro" paintball at all. The concept of a paintball pro is alien to me.

1. It is not like pro players are recrutted and making $100,000 per year that I have seen. Maybe it is just ignorance on my part.
2. Paintball is not that hard. I think given the time to practice anyone could be almost as good as most pro players. It takes no feat of strength etc. I could never compete againt the Shaq's and Jordans of the world I don't have it in me.
3. Paintball is not televised. I really canot follow the Pro cirtuit without traveling around the country. I have never seen a pro team play in my life.

I do follow the local teams. This includes the NAAPSA locally the ICC Indiana Captains Council and the Am A and Am B teams. These are people I know play with recreationally and may play in Tourneys with.
Until paintball is televized I will not follow a "Pro" curcuit.
Hitmanng

i myself follow nppl, mayhem masters, mgo, and things like that. i keep tabs on most pro team things. i really like pro ball and aspire to some day join a pro team. just to me being a pro paintballer seems something i can actually achieve, unlike say a pro f1 racer (another dream of mine, hehe) i can go down to my home field, survival, and watch ground zero practice, on the edge ya know. the best they can be. that to me, is what paintball is about. maybe im just a glory boy like lasoya. its just alot of people dont care much about pros on this forum, considering AGDs pretty small presence, except for the jax warriors.

Living in Idaho the only way I ever hear anything about "Pro" players and events is usually months after the tournements are done. To trully be able to follow and be a fan of a sporting series I think you have to be able to participate vicariously in real time. You have to be able to see or hear it as it happens or at least read it in the news the next day. How else can it be discussed unless you know whats happening? Until real time broadcasting of pro paintball events is avialable there won't be much of a fan base except amongst those who are directly involved.

Besides, I'm a scenario and rec-ball player and my tournement days are behind me. I have very little in common with the pro paintball world.

the way that I look at it is that there are so many differrent circuits, NPPL, APL, ect. Where other sports have one. It gets confusing, and there is no standard for setting up fields, just certain dimensions (which could be good or bad). It makes things difficult to keep track of. Not to mention as has been discussed many times before, there is little media coverage. And most anyone can put together a team here (I know it is a little more complex than that but you get the idea) butyou can't just grab a bunch of guys and go play in the NFL. I think if these were to change it would help boost the popularity of pro teams.

I do follow what s going on, on the NPPL circuit. I like to read about it, the new up comers, the stars of the these days, and the legend of the dinosaurs day of paintball, and all the crappy things that are going on in NPPL.
And i do have my favorite team, not cause they are the best but they make this sport better, just like tha Russian Legion. I like teams like Ironmen the bob long`s and SC, Image, Dynasty the AA and else, but we all know those teams win by cheating and wipping. So there is no big pride to have here.
But why we don`t talk about it, NPPL needs big changes to be really interesting. They need change in Format. Promoters have to get there hands off it. IT has to become a "Sport" not just a business. Things will have to change so we can become fan of a certain team, just like any other sport. It would need a whole new way of thinking and doing things. But why would the promoters do so, That way pays by itself. Why change something that makes them earn money.
Till then i ll keep following what`s going on.

If I was at the level where I was on the verge of that level of competition, I would care.

But where I am now? Not really... Like hitmanng said, if it were on TV, I would follow it. But as it is, I don't really care too much. I watch PigTV sometimes, but more to get ideas on how to improve my speedball game than to see who wins. And besides, watching people shoot each other is always fun :-)

The lack of exposure is what hurts the pro game, though. Its hard to have a favorite team when you can never see them play. Hell, how many people here could name more than 10 pro players? I would be hard pressed to.

If someone here made a post like "You guys see that great match between Aftershock and the SC Ironmen? It was amazing!!", who would reply? Chances are no one saw the match. And more than that, no one really cares who won because A) they don't have a favorite team, B) they don't know anyone on either team, and C) they aren't competing on that level, so the outcome doesn't effect them.

However, if for example, members of the JAX Warriors posted here on a regular basis, then members would be more inclined to talk up events they were at, because it would be about supporting people you knew. If cphilip or Army or someone like that were on a pro team, then people might care more.

<font face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by AGD:The subject of pro teams or pro paintball never seems to come up in this forum. We were wondering why? All comments welcome.</font>

Probably the majority of the forum members are not tournament players. I guess that the rec players are not so interested in what goes on in the pro world.

I have been playing paintball for six months at a local field and they just put in a hyperball field (in may) word got around San Diego. Now pretty much every weekend team Ironman and Dynasty, and sometimes members of the family show up and play. My first experience with a pro team;

1. Ironman; rude, obnoxious cry babes that wipe everything. I was very disappointed. They cuss ALOT. There also rude off the field.

2. Dynasty; pretty much the same as Ironman. they mirror each other well.

3. The Family; the whole team hasn't shown but the players didn't wipe that I watched not once, and they didn't swear as much or at all.

While watching them play (Ironman and Dynasty)cussing and scream'en at each other one of Ironmans front players went to bunker a front of Dynasty's and his gun malfunctioned (I think his revvy batteries died and blocked the ball from feeding), so the player throws his 2001 LCD Angel and angel air on the ground so hard he bent the barrel.

The most frustrating part is there are typically 60-80 newbies standing around watching these players wanting to play like them and the teams are acting like this, what kind of role model is that. If they were to televise these teams, I think it would give the sport a bad rep.

These are good players(other than the wiping) and I do learn from watching them, but they need to clean up their act. Given these circumstances, I don't think to highly of Pro-teams. Given this is my only experience with them.

Seems to me that the industry is geared to the new players. Look threw most
magazines and they are choked full of entry level packages and articles. What little I have personally seen on upper level paintball were tournament results only. In and by itself, this information is pretty boring. If there are magazines out there that feature more about Pros, I'm unaware of it. Point is, I have never seen a pro player, therefor I have nothing to say about them. I think its the fault of the of the leaders in the industry, which would have to be the manufactures. Manufacturers really control the direction of the sport. Therefor, they should take a larger role in linking players / equipment / sport information at different levels, not just the entry level. What I mean by this is when you enter the sport, there are a plethora of places to get help and ideas to find your way and settle in. Once you are settled in and reached the level to start playing tournament level paintball, the industry no longer provides information for you. Such as, equipment up grades, modifications, and true paintball tactics, not just: present a small target, learn to snap shoot, don't come over the top of your bunker, practice, practice practice. There has been some that has tried to provide
information to the intermediate players but it has been short lived. Examples: APG ran a few articles called T N T for tournament players. I think that ran for 6 months. The information was mediocre at best anyway. Paintball consumer guide ran 3 months (I think) this was an AWESOME magazine.

Not sure if this related to your question or not, but maybe it should. Perhaps if
sponsorship of the Pro teams included them educating the players that need their
help, it would bring the Pro players into the mainstream and provide much needed
attention to the intermediate players. Our sport has no coaches, and players want to move forward but lack the knowledge to do so. Perhaps the Pros could help until our sport evolves again.

I would like to point out that the reason I have stuck around your forum here is
because it does provide some of the information I desire, and some I can't get
anywhere else. It also provides links to other sites that are a huge help. I understand why you and your Techs don't spend more time on the forums, but I gotta say, you all are what will continue to make this a success. Having you all online helps keep the forums on a learning level, which should be a big payoff for AGD.

Imagine what this site would be like if AGD sponsored a Pro team and part of the
deal was one of the players had to spend a certain amount of time online everyday. What better way to for AGD to keep track of it's sponsored team and think of the information they could pass on to us.

I don't pay attention to tourny's at all. I have never been in one and I wouldn't mind trying it once but I am happy and content with rec ball. Only time I hear anything about pro tourny's is at my local field many months after it is over. Only pro game I have actually watched was back in 96 on ESPN when the Parapeligic Turtles beat the Ironmen. Now the turtles are our local pro team. Don't follow them very much though. If it was televised I think I would follow a tiny bit more.

I guess i'm the odd-ball. I love tournaments and pro players and everything. I am prolly a rookie in NPPL but in local im am. I love the intensity and i'm starting to stop playing with my friends so i can save up for the tourny. I plan on playing skyball and other nppl next year. i couldnt live without tournies!!!

------------------
This is your brain
AUTOMAG
Your brain on drugs
autococker
GET FOCUSED

I like watching tourney's, and tournament players. Unfortunately my experience of competetive players has generally been pretty bad. There are guys like the Beach Boyz and PSI who are cool, don't cheat, and don't mind playing a few newbies (which I am compared to them), but playing against guys like Masters of Mayhem, who are real dicks, and well known for cheating, and overshooting, even in rec ball, is simply not fun. If there was a major tour, which enforced a code of conduct, and was death on cheaters (I say wiping=DQ minimum) I would be very interested in supporting and possibly playing rookie/novice in that league.

The Problem with tourney's, to quote a unnamed PB video:

"That's just splatter Mr. Long" ref to Bob Long, after 4 breaks on his shoulder.

Most pro teams do not interest me. What i do get a kick out of is hearing about Team AGD, especially after that whole deal at Challenge cup. That was a great read, and then having JJ post about it on these boards.

Bah, pros cheat the hell outta everything, i bet you i had a better time hanging out with a guy at my field witha S/F mag then i ever would hanging with pros. And i never even learned that guyys name, and that is what paintballs about, going to the field and having a good old time, makeing friends you'll never see again, but you'll never forget. You know, it's miller time.

Like eagle said, too much confusion and not enough standardization. You could follow the pro circut in NPPL (wich that league is a joke) or APL and so on. But it would be difficult to follow all circuts and know all pro teams.